Imagining the JENNINGS HOUSE

Early Sketchup model of "Jennings House"

I've taken another stab at creating a model of William's hotel in Sketchup, a 3d modeling application. This is a screenshot of my progress. The building doesn't exist today: it was destroyed by fire a little more than a century ago, along with a handful of other buildings.Most of my information about the original hotel comes from less than a half-dozen photos taken of the building, with a couple images from postcards thrown in for good measure.

Speaking of good measure (sorry), the most help I've received for this project came from a high school drafting teacher -- now retired -- who offered insight into the building conventions of the times. For example, he offered his best guesses about the dimensions of the doors and windows, ceiling heights, etc. His help is greatly appreciated; unfortunately, there is only one very blurry view of the rear of the hotel.

Sketchup is free (unless you want to buy the full version), and may be found here. It's a fabulous program that is easy to use and yet yields tremendous results. And did I mention it was free :) ?

So, you might be asking why go to all this bother? I'm not sure, except that I feel it serves as just one more attempt to bring a little history to light -- my history, and to a lesser extent, the history of a once-bustling little Northeast Pennsylvania town.

Long ago, the Jennings family probably didn't like a guy named "French Joe" very much...

JENNINGS BARN FIRE

TUNKHANNOCK REPUBLICAN, 15 Feb. 1871

Mehoopany Barn. Photo-illustration by Bruce Jennings, 2012

"A barn belonging to Wm. Jennings in Mehoopany, near Robinson's Ferry was totally destroyed by fire at about 7 o'clock p.m., last Saturday. An institution on the town properly known as "French Joe," who was ejected from the hotel but a short time before, was found in the vicinity drunk, upon whose person was found pipe and matches, who may have set the building on fire accidentally. The barn was fully insured."

Reprinted from LEST-WE-FORGET Wyoming County Pioneers, published by the Wyoming County Historical Society, 15 September, 2012, VOL. 32, NO.1, page 19.